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The Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton could deliver a major boost to tourism and the British economy as well as the fashion, craft and creative industries.
The publicity boost alone is likely to be unprecedented. Almost a billion TV viewers watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981. The union of their eldest son to his bride can be expected to exceed that audience almost 30 years on.
Their marriage, due to take place at Westminster Abbey on April 29, could easily be the biggest broadcast event in history with predictions that four billion people, three-quarters of the potential global TV audience, could watch the event.
This would be multiplied by online and social media. Coverage of the wedding will give Britain a golden opportunity to demonstrate the strength of its history and tradition, but also show the world how that history is being brought right up-to-date by a very modern Royal couple.
"This is wonderful news for William and Kate and it will also be an enormous boost for the British tourism industry and the UK looks forward to welcoming its friends from around the world," said Carol Maddison, manager of VisitBritain in the Gulf.
"Millions of people will see the royal wedding as the perfect opportunity to visit Britain and to enjoy all of the wonderful sights that the UK has to offer."
Some 30 million overseas tourists visited Britain last year, bringing in revenue worth £16 billion (around BD9bn). In a recent survey, foreign travellers declared that Britain's culture and heritage was the most important reason why they visit the UK. Research shows that in a typical year Britain's monarchy generates, on the most conservative estimates, well over £500 million (around BD293m) a year directly and indirectly from overseas tourists - but the benefit of a Royal Wedding year is likely to outstrip that.
The long-term impact of the event is likely to be spread right across Britain's tourism sector. After the wedding the couple, who met at St Andrew's University, will live in North Wales where the Prince is serving with the RAF.
Their fame looks likely to have a beneficial impact on the fashionability of North Wales which last year attracted 289,000 overseas visitors, bringing in a total of £77m (BD45m) in revenue. Places like the beautiful Dee Valley, the picturesque market town of Llangollen, the Snowdonia National Park and the vast medieval fortress Caernarfon Castle look set to gain extra cache as tourist destinations.
The timing of the wedding, a year before the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and London's hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, is a happy coincidence with the publicity around the marriage creating a 'halo effect' that will carry over to the celebrations of the following year.
VisitBritain recently sponsored a question on the respected Nation Brands Index survey (2010), which looks at countries as if they are commercial brands, to evaluate the appeal of specific activities to potential tourists. The question asked 'Which of the following activities would you most like to do while on holiday in Britain'?
Respondents from 20 countries around the world were allowed to choose up to three activities from a list of 18. The top three activities all involved castles and palaces. Respondents found the idea of going on a tour around Welsh castles highly appealing (selected by 34 per cent of respondents).
A tour of Buckingham Palace was next on the list (32 per cent), followed by spending a night in a Scottish castle (29 per cent).
